Of all the breakfast pastries in all the world, I would have to say almond croissants are my absolute favorite. True story!

The soft buttery folds of dough, the flaky crust that shatters with each bite, the nutty sweetness from the gooey decadent filling, the taste and fragrance of almond – I love everything about almond croissants. And a good almond croissant is so hard to find, why is that? So often the are either dry, chewy, too soft or too sweet. When they are bad they are really bad. But when they are done right there is nothing that can compare to the perfect almond croissant. It is probably all the butter that makes them oh so good and I’m okay with that.

Having recently learned how to make these gems from scratch and having baked them almost daily for a month I am an even bigger fan girl of almond croissants. Sure it takes an incredible amount of work. Sure my arms were bruised from rolling out the dough and then folding the dough and then rolling it again. But knowing the delicate and intricate process of making croissants made me appreciate them even more. While it is nice to have your favorite cafe to pick up a morning croissant from, it can be very satisfying to make them for yourself. So here is your chance. A complicated and maybe confusing recipe below, go ahead and give it a try. You will feel rewarded when you pull out those golden brown croissants from the oven and sit down with a cup of coffee and enjoy one hot and fresh from the oven!

If you don’t feel like doing all the work… here are a few of my favorite spots for Almond Croissants:

This recipe is intensive, will take a couple of days with time for the dough to rest and your arms will probably hurt afterwards. But the end result will be 100% worth it! Email me if you have questions about the recipe I wrote the directions from memory and with such a detailed process it was a little tough to describe. Hope you treat yourself to a decadent almond croissant.

Almond Croissants

yields 20 large croissants

Dough-

1ounce salt

1.5 ounce sugar

3 ounce room temp butter

2 lb bread flour

24 oz warm milk

15 grams yeast

7 oz room temp butter

2 oz bread flour

Filling-

16 ounce almond paste

8 ounce butter

8 ounce sugar

2 large eggs

10 ounces graham cracker crumbles

2 ounces cake flour

Dough: Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk, set aside. In an electric mixer with a dough hook mix salt, sugar, butter. Add milk and yeast. Slowly incorporate flour until mixture comes together in a ball. Add more flour if needed. Dough should be tacky to the touch my not overly wet or sticky. Combine 7 oz butter with 2 oz of flour. Wrap butter in plastic wrap and form into a rectangle. Chill in refrigerator until use.

Filling: In an electric mixer with a paddle attachment combine all ingredients until fully incorporated.

Let dough rest overnight in the fridge. Take rested dough and roll out four corners. Place butter block in middle of dough and wrap rolled out corners over the butter block like an envelope. Roll out dough into a rectangular shape about 1 in thick. Brush off excess flour and fold into thirds. Let dough rest for a few hours.

Take dough and roll out again into a rectangle 1 in thick. Fold into thirds one last time. Roll out dough again until half and inch thick and approximately 27 “ wide and 15” tall. Using a pizza roller cut out 5”x4” rectangles. Fill each individual rectangle of dough with almond filling at one end, brush opposite end with an egg was and roll one corner to the other. Press down gently to ensure dough will not roll open. Place on baking sheet and allow to proof. Once the croissant has proofed to double it’s size brush with egg wash, sprinkle with toasted almond slivers and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

wow this EPIC!! Maybe the best post ever!! I can’t believe you make these. When I come back to LA can I come by when you are working and get some fresh out of the oven? It’s soo refreshing to know there are other almond croissant afficionados out there. Also very interesting you use graham in there. I must try!!! Raaarhh!!

Nastassia

February 14, 2012 at 7:31 am (3 years ago)

Anna- thank you!!! the graham balances the almond paste and gives it great texture. so much freaking work but so wonderful!

Nastassia

February 14, 2012 at 7:32 am (3 years ago)

Noelle- def the Market on Holly runner up is Urth Caffe a close third would be Euro Caffe

You should be very pleased with yourself, making these is kinda like a right of passage to another level of baking and you scored! They look amazing, I like the almond but my first choice would always be a nice flaky pain au chocolat but your right, so hard to find one not mass produced and doughy. I always choose a pastry at breakfast over anything else
Thanks and take care…

Hi! I'm Nastassia. I'm a true lover of cake, an enthusiast of pie and a donut fiend. You can usually find me roaming around my hometown of Los Angeles in search of the perfect treat to satisfy my insatiable sweet tooth. Read more about me and my passion for desserts here!